Photographer, Graphic Artist & Daddy Blogger + Youtube Vlogger

Category Archives: society

Seems Douglas Adams knew it was a dumb idea long before Donald Trump thought it was a good idea.

This is one of the most impressive quotes from a book my generation grew up on:

“It is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”

Like this:

​This morning I posted a story on Facebook that I found buried on a friend’s timeline. I found it funny enough to republish on my timeline.

Cattle Guards

For those of you who have never traveled to the US South West, cattle guards are horizontal steel rails placed at fence openings, in dug-out places in the roads adjacent to highways (sometimes across highways), to prevent cattle from crossing over that area. For some reason the cattle will not step on the “guards,” probably because they fear getting their feet caught between the rails.

A few months ago, President Obama received and was reading a report that there were over 100,000 cattle guards in Colorado.

The Colorado ranchers had protested his proposed changes in grazing policies, so he ordered the Secretary of the Interior to fire half of the “cattle” guards immediately!

Before the Secretary of the Interior could respond and presumably try to straighten President Obama out on the matter, Vice-President Joe Biden, intervened with a request that “before any ‘cattle’ guards were fired, they be given six months of retraining.”

“Times are hard,” said Joe Biden, “it’s only fair to the cattle guards and their families be given six months of retraining!”

Like most stories posted to the internet, someone checked on snopes.com to determine if it true or not. Turns out it is fake!

Actually, I have a word to say about snopes: They take their unofficial job way too seriously.
Many stories were written, I presume, purely as humor, as anecdote to tell at a large gathering to break the ice or to amuse the dignatories.

No doubt people retold them, each time changing details to suit their audience.
Not all stories are written based on truth.

I sometimes wish they could leave amusing anecdotes alone, as legends, and as humor worth repeating.

Some jokes should remain jokes, and not become a snopes investigation.

Like this:

If I was young again, and lived in the US, I’d be at EastPax2016. And I would probably be at these events on the schedule. Because I am not young, I have watched games evolve into careers, and I like to learn and listen not just sit and stare.

PostScript #1: I woud love to have a spider-looking holder for both my smartphone and dSLR. This thing looks scary! I wonder how well it goes through airport security?

PostScript #2: All the embedded photographs are from a 1969National Geographic magazine I found in a discount store. The mags are in pristine collection and will still stay with me until someone appreciates them enough to pay my pension… #TellHimHeIsDreaming

Like this:

Hard to believe it, I have had a Twitter account since mid 2008.

For a long time it was just something I looked at from time to time, not understanding how anyone could cross-converse in such a hectic and vibrant community. It looked (and sometimes still does) like a bazillion monkeys chattering over the top of each other, all clambering for the highest point to ensure their voice is heard.

Yet it turns out to be the best way to ask questions that a MASSIVE amount of people can respond to and (mostly) give a good response. Here is one great example:

I asked on Twitter earlier this evening…

With only one response, I chose to follow the link.

Considering many of my friends are complete arseholes, that was a big risk. Wait, wait, what I mean is they are Australian’s who like to use any opportunity to make fun of each other, which all of us, including the recipient, laugh till it is someone else’s turn. So when an Australian calls you an arsehole or a bastard, more often he is saying either “Aha, you got me!” or “Damn, you take the best holidays!”

Turns out this is a great sugggestion for a second camera. So I tried to follow with a less than 140 character reply. Considering all of the amazing features, I had to find just one or two that warranted a twitter response. So, Ric, @aqualung, this is what I have to say about the Fuji X-T1:

@eztephen Thanks aqualung! The Fujifilm X-T1 appears to be an awesome camera. With built-in Wi-Fi and a dedicated button to send imgs to your phone, it’s a winner. But at approx $1500, out of my range.

Like this:

I have motherboards, sound cards, old cellular phones, cabling, stenographer tape decks and much more. Somewhere in there I have a 3GB box that is twice the size of a standard shoe box – I use it as a paper weight and a reminder of a time that man wants to forget.

What I have noticed recently is that I still have most of the mobile phones I have purchased outright. This includes a few NOKIA bricks (sorry guys, it is true!). The earliest phone I remember owning was a flip-phone that always reminded me of communicators in Star Trek! Beamed straight from the series that continues to influenced the design of Tablets.

So I found PHONEBLOKS via advertising on Youtube. I quickly realised they deserve merit and entrepreneurial advertising!

Their idea is that the screen and features (ie, phone, camera, speakers, antenna, memory) are all separate blocks that connect to a standard base by way of pins and screws at the ends to keep it all secure. Therefore anyone in the world can build a phone to specifically suit their desires and lifestyle.

I reckon I would buy a PHONEBLOK. Imagine if each block embedded came in multiple colours. Sleeves and water-proof cases will still be necessary, bling is all part of the franchising of a product.

I’m keeping an eye on where this concept goes. So should everyone. The world is changing, again!

Now I am wondering what I am going to do with this shed of obsolete electronic gadgetry. Thinking of getting a strong metal muncher to make mince-meat of it all – and then somehow spraying it onto canvas or concrete to make wall art. Now that would be modern art!

Like this:

Our close friends Vicki and Ben Kramer have a lovely little boy who required a heart operation shortly after birth. It touched our hearts when we heard what it took to support their family during those early days of little Zach’s life.

So now we want to give as much as possible to all families who need immediate support during that same time of their child’s life.